Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Megan's Law v. Halloween

The state parole board is forbidding sex offenders under its supervision to answer the door for Halloween trick-or-treaters.

Any offender spotted handing out candy or in the presence of
children could be bounced back to prison for as long as a year and a
half, parole board spokesman Edward Bray said.

Last week, the board sent a letter to the 2,200 sex offenders under
its supervision. The letter orders them to observe a 7 p.m. curfew;
bans them from Halloween parties where children might be present;
forbids them to go trick-or-treating with any child, including their
own; and orders them not to answer the door for any trick-or-treater.

It is an interesting preventative strategy. I wonder if the state had empirical evidence of a higher-than-average rate of illegal behavior on halloween? In any event, don't forget that there are costs (perhaps ones we can justify) to rules like this:

Steven Elwell, 35, a former Cape May high
school teacher and coach, pleaded guilty in 2001 to having sexual
contact with a 16-year-old student and served one year in prison.
Classified as a low-risk offender, he is now married with two young
children and is an outspoken opponent of the growing number of local
laws restricting where sex offenders can live.

"We were going to take our kids out trick-or-treating. It was going
to be my son's first time, but now I'm not allowed to go, so I'm a
little upset about it," Elwell said. "The way I look at it, I'm being
punished again for the same crime."

Elwell said he had not received the letter. He said none of the
other Megan's Law registrants at a court-ordered therapy class he just
attended had received the letter, either.